mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

I'm feeling a little left out for not having a thread of my restoration/project so now is as good of a time as any! I've been getting ideas and opinions over the past year from everyone on TGO so now it's time for me to get busy...

To start off I'll put up a few "before" pictures so you can see what I have to work with. As I complete pieces and make progress I will continue to update the thread... Please feel free to give me your thoughts/opinions/feedback as you see fit! Thanks for looking!

So - here goes nothing!

Here is the good side...


This is just annoying!


Yeah - needs paint, BAD!


Clean, solid, original and 49,xxx miles!


Need a new window too...

ZZ42Fast

iTrader: (2)

Nice- will be watching this. From your sig, I always assumed your car was mint!

86T/A_Ram_Air

nice will be watching this being that i have a simaliar car *subscribe*

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Thanks! She photographs well (from the driver's side) but when you get a good look you can see that there is a LOT of TLC that needs to be done! Most important is that she is VERY solid, no leaks of any kind and still gets the when I take her out!

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Took me a few days to put these up but here you are!

So I thought I'd start easy this past weekend and do a few interior cosmetics that I've picked up over the past several months...

Needs some help here!


Sure it's stock but this is supposed to be a Z28!


Now THAT is more like it!


Back together again and looking MUCH better!


Here is everything that was replaced...


Found this in the dash - looks to be an inspection sticker


Over the afternoon I replaced the instrument cluster which fixed my tachometer! Also added an original '92 AC Delco CD player with yellow lettering (now I need to find some new speakers)... The shift plate was replaced along with the shifter *** and also the fog and headlight switch - that thing was the BIGGEST PIA of the whole day, had my hand stuck in the dash for about 15 minutes trying to get that **** off! And finally replaced the rear-view mirror with one that wasn't quite so beat up...

Aside from getting my hand stuck in the dash the whole thing was pretty simple and didn't take but a few hours all together. Finding the inspection tag in the dash was a cool surprise - I put it right back right where I found it... The interior looking MUCH better after just those few simple changes!

Next is the body - stay tuned!

86T/A_Ram_Air

so far so good, your lucky yours isn't too bad, ive had some pretty rough projects....cool to see you found an inspection tag, its funny where we find some documentation, in the cluster, on the gas tank, under the seat who knows where.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Thanks - I spent a long time looking for the "right" one and I might have over paid a little but it will be worth it when it's all said and done! I have hard time resisting a good looking 3rd gen, especially when she is topless

86T/A_Ram_Air

i did the same for mine, she doesn't look all that great but mechanically shes near flawless, plus a new top, i couldn't resist, i really just need to clean up the interior, paint, and a few bolt on go fast goodies and i'll be done

CassieMarie88

Awesome Jon. I can't wait to see this one definitely subscribing nice work so far. Love your third gen.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, Cassie! Hope you're feeling better!

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Alright - you all should get a kick out of this...

As you've all seen the paint on my Camaro needs to be redone - BAD! So I thought it would be a good idea to start shopping around and get an estimate or two to see what the pros would charge. I went to a local shop near Killeen that "specializes" in restoration work, most shops in town won't touch it they'll only do collision jobs!

I met with the owner of the restoration shop, very professional and gave me a tour of his facility highlighting some of his current work. From what I saw they do nice work - not excellent but nice... So we went out to get my estimate done - the first words out of his mouth was an offer to buy it from me! I could only laugh at him!

We discussed what I wanted done, shave the door moldings and antenna plus add the Heritage Stripes. Nothing really fancy by most standards. We go back to his office and he spends several minutes on the calculator figuring up my quote. After labor, supplies and tax the total was $6,873.25!!! PLUS I have to replace all of the weather stripping myself and the top would still need to be repaired/replaced - that's another $1700!! So for a grand total of roughly $8,500 and 6 weeks they would take my project and make it like new...

$8,500?!?!? I don't think so! It's looking more and more like I will be doing this project with my own two hands! More to come...

jimez1

I was with the first post. I too thought your car looked mint from the sig pic. I had to scrool back to the top of this thread to look close at it. Now I see the hood alignment and the scuffed up ground effect on the front. I at least know where I am going to start at a price. I also have a 92 that I want repainted to the original color and add the heritage stripes to. Looks like I will be saving up the whole year and then some.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

I almost fell out of the chair when he said $6,800!! $8,500 for everything is almost TWICE what I paid for her last year! I'm already pricing the equipment I'd need to do it on my own - looking like I should be able to save about $7,000! I figure if I screw up too bad I can just sand it off and too it again!

ZZ42Fast

iTrader: (2)

That is a lot of cash but will probably be a stellar job. All this painting stuff is down to the time for prep. Can you do the prep and let them just paint? Will save loads of $

With painting, you pay your money you take your chance...

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

He did give me that option but would not guarantee the work/finished product - and it would only save me about $4k... If I go through all of prep work myself then I just as well paint it myself! If I mess up too bad I'll just have to sand it off and try again - eventually I'll get it right!

I also met a guy (retired military) today at the gas station that has the equivalent of a 4 car garage that would be willing to allow me to use some space in his garage if I helped him paint one of his projects!

This may work out better and cheaper than I though!

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Nice! But wow your car isn't NEARLY as bad as mine! In fact, it's actually MINT compared to mine hahaha. Nice to see another project thread on a nice car.

And I just saw your paint quote... WHAT?! I thought 3000 for my car was bad! But after shopping around I got some from $800 to $1800. Maybe I'll just take mine to Maaco lol.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Good work so far, keep it going.

How did you fix the hood alignment problem? I know probably an easy fix but I seem to be suffering from the same problem.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Have not gotten that far yet - should just be able to loosen the bracket a hare and adjust... The part that is bugging the crap out of me is how the corners are curling forward - I have yet to figure out a way to fix that without replacing the entire thing...

White92RSVert

It's looking good. I'd be anxious to know if you find a fix for the "curling" corners. I have that problem too. Must be common and there has to be a fix. Keep the thread going! I've got a 92 RS that I'm doing right now. Everything new on the cooling system (whcih finally works perfectly with no leaks) and new front struts and brake pads. Working on a suspension squeak right now?? Can't seem to think about taking pitures as I go.?. but I should. Good luck.

You mentioned it was lowered a couple of inches and has 18" wheels. How's the well clearances? I can't imagine there's much when the wheel's turned in??

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

The previous owner did that - I will see if I can find the papers as to what exactly he did. Whatever it was works perfectly - I have yet run into any issued with rubbing...

As far as the corners go I was thinking about fabricating a small metal rod that would support enough to prevent it from happening... Still work in progress bit I will keep everyone posted!

siduramaxde

I did all the paint on my car. Just take your time and I highly suggest doing some reading and keep a clean enviroment. Prep work is 90% of the work. Painting is easy. You'll need to get a high cfm compressor and a quality HVLP gun. Work slow and take your time. When your done with prep work (sanding, body filler) you should be able to close your eyes and run your hand across the car and it should feel smooth. I would sand all the old paint off, fill any dents/low spots with filler (filler should not be more than 1/8th inch thick), prime the car and apply a guide coat, wet sand the primer with a long sanding block till there are no low spots (guide coat is gone and no bare metal showing, then apply the base coat, then clear coat, then wet sand any imperfections out of the clear without sanding through the clear, and finally buff to a great shine. Get used to sanding and when you think your done sanding, sand some more. Prep, prep, prep!!!!!

here's my car https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...erly-pics.html

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Thanks! That helps a lot - your car looks incredible!

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Didn't do any cosmetic work this past weekend. I was getting sick of seeing the "light of doom" on the dash so I decided to tackle the codes and get it running smoothly. Put in a new set of plugs, and replaced the coolant sensor pigtail and the oxygen sensor. Some new friends in Austin helped with everything including the fabrication of this socket to get the oxygen sensor tightened.



Now she's running great and the gas mileage practically doubled with those small changes! Need to replace the belt and she'll be as good as new! The next few days I am going to begin removing the ground effects and prepare for the weeks of sanding...

More to come...

osso12

Mister_hudson..
Do it yourself! Save that money. All in all you may have about a grand most
in materials...
I painted my first car last year a 68 camaro. While it did not turn out as good as I liked,
It turned out good enough to be a daily driver! I learned what mistakes not to make and will be ready to paint another one!
Like you said, you can always go back and rework the mess ups!

jimez1

Good luck on the painting and sanding! I was wondering what kind of tires you got on that thing? I am in need of new ones and yours look like they got a nice looking tread pattern to them.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

They are Riken Raptor 245/40 18's - they are decent tires and only about $100 a piece. Reasonable grip when dry but not so good wet - that is expected though, these cars are very light. They are very quiet on a well paved road which what I like about them the most! They also have nice odor when they are roasting

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

I have Riken Raptors on mine also, and they suck for grip, wet or dry. The compound is way too hard, but you get what you pay for. It's not even worth trying to race from a dig with my car because it spins as soon as you get into the throttle.


Hey, do you know of a metallic blue '90 IROC-Z, hard top, 5spd TPI car? It's a younger kid's car, around 17 or 18yrs old by now...I'm pretty sure he lives in the Austin area, anyways, that IROC used to be mine, sold it to him a few years back.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

I should rephrase that, Nick. With a bone stock 305 they have decent grip on dry pavement. With that LSX you are running it's hard to get any tire to stick to the pavement!

I have not seen the IROC you're talking about but there is a BIG 3rd Gen meet near Austin in June - it will probably be there! Love what you've done with yours - hope mine looks and runs half as good when I'm done!

ThreeOhFive

.

I HATE when that cheap plastic junk starts peeling back!!!

Mine has the same problem!

Subscribing!

White92RSVert

Care to share any tips or advice on what you would do differently or to make it better? I'm thinkng about building a paint booth in my garage and painting the car myself. Just curious what I should be aware of.

Thanks

osso12

Im not a painter.
This car was shown painted out in the driveway where you see it parked too to make it more difficult in 20mph wind and dust on top of that!
All I can say, is get the car as smooth as possible. Invest in some good blocks and some good sand paper! Do as much prep as you can by getting all the old paint and bondo off. Fill any holes with fiber glass (easier to manage than bondo) I used all glass to fill my low spots and the joint where the top panel meets the qtr panels (roof was replaced) Every time you lay down some good quality build primer block it with 400 paper. Throw a good guide coat, block again with 400. Keep doing this over and over until all the panels are staight and flat. Once you have everything nice and smooth and you cannot see any dents, low spots, or high spots (shiney metal) then water sand with 400 or 600 grit until everything is completely smooth EVERY WHERE. Once everything feels as smooth as glass or looks perfect to you, either paint the car or seal the car with sealer. Paint the car with your choice of paint. I used PPG DBU on the blue car.
This is a mid grade paint, nothing too fancy but it is about $35 a pint. You need to figgure in at least a gallon of paint, and a gallon of clear for your project if you are using a base coat clear coat system. Best advice I can give is take your time. Remember, 80% of your quality of overall paint job is your prep work in getting the car ready. The other 10% id say would be spraying the actual color and the other 10% left to spraying your clear and coming back and color sanding and buff. You spend a good 40-80 hours buffing your car and you will have a shine so deep you can see your reflection a quarter mile into the paint!
Buffing is another animal all together. I learned my first time on this car you see. I did buff through a couple of spots due to the learning curve for the buffer! But I could do it now on any car as I have been doing quite a bit lately and I must say I learned something in the whole process!
I could actually buff professionally now if I wanted to. I guarantee once im done there wont be ONE swirl in the new paint! Not every body shop can say the same!

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

That's good advice, osso12 - thanks!

You're only about 3 hours away - wanna come down & give me hand with mine?

What size compressor did you use and what brand/model paint gun?

osso12

Any compressor will work if it will hold up to 30 psi continual to the paint gun. You need a actual 23 -28 PSI to spray with. I used a HVLP 9115 gravity feed gun. Bought it at a local hardware store for about $100. Make sure you use a good water and oil separator on your feed to the gun. Get the BEST gun you can afford. Don't splurge too much here. You can get away with the cheaper $20 cup feed guns you buy but its actually HARDER to paint with these. Best thing about the gravity feeds, you can get all the paint picked up in the gun, requires less cleaning. The cup fed guns always leave about 1/4 of paint in the gun. Also its more difficult to paint with non gravity type guns as when you turn up upside down ( to spray roof or hood for example) the gun will tend to pick up air and you have to tilt the gun. Buy yourself a gravity gun. You will kick yourself if you don't. My compressor is a HUSKY 22 gallon, 5 HP (120 PSI) electric compressor with wheels, it stands upright. It was only 2 months old when I bought it, and I give $135 on it and i use it for EVERYTHING from airing up tires to my impact wrenches.

jer4251

iTrader: (6)

Looking good so far. Dash looks way better with the 145 in there. I put the eibach sportline springs on there. with all new front steering parts and allignment. fully turned, there is no rubbing. worked out perfectly, and looked amazing to me. only clearence problem would be if you had too many people in the car and the back wheel wells would most likely rub. springs are not recommended for convertibles because of the space needed for the top when its down. But if your like me and never put anyone in the back seat, no problems at all. I had gotten a quote for paint and all the body work. it was $4180.25. that was guaranteed work no stripes, but back to factory. or i could have gotten it done for 3200 no guarantee. this was a shop who does mostly insurance work, but still did other work also. i had them repaint the front of my 97 SS, paid out of pocket. did a good job too.

I would do it right and have someone guarantee the work. If you think about it, its a 92 Z vert with low miles, in good to perfect shape, should be worth 10-15k. I agree over 8 grand is just crazy. I'm sure some smaller non insurance based shops could use the business, their quotes are not final. Do what you can to find the best shop your willing to pay for and go to town working their price down. Places charge for every part they have to remove and put back on. maybe take some of that work on yourself and see what they can do.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, Jer! She's coming along - slowly but surely! I'm working on some connections but I do believe that I will be doing the paint myself. Shouldn't run me more than a grand.

Do you miss her yet? I have a feeling when I get to those "finished" photos you are going to want her back... You can enjoy the 400+ hp of your 5th Gen - I'll just be cruising with the top down...

By the way did you get the message about the codes? The coolant sensor pigtail/connection & the oxygen sensor was bad - replaced both plus the plugs and she's running like new! I've got to get some headers on because she's too quiet!

Thanks for everything! I absolutely love her!

mfickett1987

iam looking for the tonneau cover parts i have a covertible but have to open the tonneau cover buy hand because there is know cable or silinoids if you have any of these parts let me know and how much

jer4251

iTrader: (6)

Check the for sale section, not somebodys restoration thread.

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Been an interesting weekend so far. Spent the entire day yesterday driving around central TX trying to find the tools I needed for the weekend. So the dent in the rear quarter panel has been driving me nuts and I decided once again to save myself a LOT of money and go at it myself.

Aside from the fuel I used getting everything, I spent a total of $150 on everything I need! For this weekend I bought stud welder, slide hammer, sandpaper, handheld grinder plus cutting wheel and a set of dollies and hammers - I'm ready to open my own auto body shop! The only thing I forgot was some protective eye wear but after a couple of beers it's not an issue!

Here is what I had to start with - not so pretty...


Sanding by hand sucks - time for a beer and snap a picture...


Slowly showing some progress...


This area is a PITA!



The process is actually pretty straight forward sand, weld, tug, pound - repeat. The only real problem thus far is that once in a while the studs don't hold to the car and you end up with the slide hammer in gut - or worse... The flare/wheel well is proving to be a little more interesting than I was hoping but I'll get it there - eventually... I really wanted to get it done and layer of primer on today but it was getting late and I didn't want to keep the neighbors up with pounding and grinding so I'll get the "finished" product done tomorrow with a couple more pics.

... to be continued...

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

And so the work continues... The dent repair took me a bit longer than expected but it came out nearly perfect! Also took care of the small rust spots that started forming just above the dent and wheel well. I was hoping to have it completely sanded and ready for primer by now but I would rather have done right than fast... Here's a few more pictures with the progress!

Even the Mrs. helped out of a few minutes!


Just a little filler to smooth things out...


Another angle of my handy work!


Removing all of the body trim & plastics to get them ready for sanding...


The Rocker Panel Molding was the BIGGEST P.I.A.! Cracked one side before I figured out how to do it right - hope I can repair it instead of having to buy another one!


Tom decided to sign the spoiler...


Found an ASC tag in the toneau cover!


Label everything making sure it's put back together right...


I think I need a bigger garage!


So I just need to remove the front end and take apart the doors. Going to shave the antenna this weekend and get the body sanded. I decided to play it safe and sand the plastics by hand to make sure I don't sand too deep. I've got a long weekend so I should be able to get at least the body done, hopefully some of the plastics too!

To be continued...

jer4251

iTrader: (6)

looking good. Its always good to see orig stickers and tags from when the car was built. And knowing it hasnt been messed with before. keep up the good work and keep the pictures coming.

bigdavesiroc

two thumbs up my friend. looking good keep it up.

irock88

NICE! Keep the pics coming , now I know what I have to look forward to when I start mine. (KING CAN of BEER)
Keep us updated!

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Thanks everyone!

It's a painfully slow process but is coming along just fine! The Mrs. is starting to complain about the amount of time I am spending in the garage but it is hard to hear her over the sander But seriously she's willing to help every now and again as long as she doesn't get too dirty...

If I had a little more space I would really like to do a ground up restore but there is not enough space or time. I am trying to have it ready from a local charity car show on May 15th...

Having said that, I better get back out there!

bradley23150

iTrader: (10)

Lookin good.

I have a request though:

I see you have little brackets riveted onto the body that help hold your spoiler on, any chance I could get a few better pics of those? My vert doesnt have them, and maybe thats why my spoiler is giving me such a hard time lining up correctly.

Thanks!

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

Sorry for the delay "bradley23150" - here are a few pictures to help you out. Let me know if you have any other questions!

bradley23150

iTrader: (10)

Thanks for the pics, maybe I can replicate those brackets and get my spoiler on!

mister_hudson

iTrader: (3)

The vertical tab moves front to back about 1/2 inch and could slide out the side. I'm guess that would be so adjustable so that one could get their spoiler lined up properly. If you need any other measurements let me know in the next week or so beofre I start puting it all back together...

CamaroRShero

Wow! nice restoration man keep the pictures coming. I am in the process of resto/moding mine. So details are good too.

Curtisyz54

iTrader: (5)

Cool project. Looks like it was coverted by ASC In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Thats like 10 mins down the road from me.

ZZ42Fast

iTrader: (2)

Looking good as is your Mrs Keep up the good work!